TorahParsha

Bila'am

i
Those whom Bila'am blesses are blessed. Those whom Bila'am curses are cursed. His visitors bring incense, and God comes to him. He commands seven altars to be made, and he summons God.

*
The king of Moav asks Bila'am to come to him to curse Israel. Bila'am says: Even were the king to offer him the royal palace filled with silver and gold, he, Bila'am, will only do what God has commanded.

Bila'am says, repeatedly, that he can say only what God has told him to say.

ii
And yet:

Bila'am seeks permission from God to curse Israel, though God says Do not curse the People, for it is blessed.

And God is angry with Bila'am for going to the king of Moav (for God has permitted Bila'am go to the king of Moav—not to curse, but to say only what God tells him to say), and God makes Bila'am know that a donkey has seen a holy vision that Bila'am cannot see; and rather than being shocked that there is knowledge of the holy that an animal knows that Bila'am does not know, Bila'am only asks if it is allright to continue on in his trip.

iii
Bila'am cannot think beyond the letter of the law.

He knows the techniques of prophecy: he knows incense and altars; he will not budge unless God has let him budge.

And yet he is comfortable asking God for help in cursing God's own people.

*
Bila'am is dangerous because he seeks the metaphysical without God, without theology: because he is a literalist and not more.

The Nation is a Medium of Caring

i

Korach rebels against Moses and against Aaron and against the priesthood, saying: All the people are holy; saying: Why do you lord yourselves over the congregation of God?

Korach calls for a nation of all priests and no leadership. God punishes him.

*
But see what happens next. Miriam dies and Aaron dies and Moses is condemned to die in the desert. And Moses attempts to bring the people through the land of Edom, and Edom drives him away.

*

Then there is the war with Arad.

 

The kingdom of Arad fights with Israel, and Arad takes prisoners. Israel calls for God to help bring the prisoners back. Israel fights with Arad, and Israel is successful.

 

No leader of the people Israel is mentioned in the war with Arad.

*
And so it seems as if Korach has won.
 

ii
But look at Korach's question.

 

Korach asks: Why do you lord yourselves? Korach is concerned with leadership.

 

But Israel, facing Arad, is not concerned with leadership. Israel simply wants its prisoners to come home.

 

*

Korach has not won. Because Korach and Israel's new vision express entirely different world-views.

 

In Korach's vision, the nation is a medium for power.

 

In Israel's new vision, the nation is the medium by which we tend to each other, by which we care for each other.


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